ricotta cheesecake with berries

If you like cheesecakes you will love this one. The filling is made with ricotta and mascarpone and gives the cake a very light and creamy texture. For the topping you can use any kind of berries you like, or you just serve it plain, simply dusted with powdered sugar.

Preheat the oven to 180° C, line the base of a 24 cm baking tin with baking paper.

120g butter melted

200g digestive biscuits, made into fine crumbs

500g ricotta

250g mascarpone

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

4 large eggs

300g berries

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon water

2 gelatine leaves

Melt the butter in a medium pan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs until the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

For the cake filling beat the ricotta, mascarpone, vanilla extract, sugar and lemon juice until creamy.

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.

Brush the sides of the baking tin with butter, pour in the filling and bake it on the second lowest rack of the oven, for about 50 minutes, until the filling has set but is still a little wobbly in the center.

Turn off the oven, open the door and let cool the cake in the oven for 1 hour. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool completely.

For the berry topping soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes.

In a heatproof pan combine the water and sugar and bring it to a boil until the sugar disolves. Gently sqeeze out the excess water of the gelatine leaves, add to the hot syrup and stir until dissolved.

Add the strawberries and the blueberries and then very gently fold in the raspberries. Remove the pan from the heat.

With a slottet spoon spread the berries over the cheesecake, cover it loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.